Thought from Fr. Colm -15th October

Our recent Parish Council Meeting was a constructive and lively discussion on many aspects of parish life. From making all as welcome as possible to reception of Holy Communion under both kinds. The need for more volunteers is a constant. The very insightful point was made by one member that we can’t return to pre-Covid days, It simply will not happen. It was added that this didn’t just apply to Church, but to every walk of life. “How Covid changed Religious Experience” by Dr. Joshua Edelman is worth Googling. Alexander from Mexico, joined us for his first meeting as a new member. It was indeed good to have a representative of the growing international community present. We all agreed that greater regard needs to be given to important national religious celebrations of the various countries now attending our Masses. A bidding prayer on Sunday could be one way of recognising this. It was added how marvellous it always is to have intercessions in different languages, at Easter especially. The replacement of Katie Flood as Youth Worker again came up. We need to revisit an approach to how we welcome people to Mass. There is already in place a marvellous welcoming atmosphere in both our churches. Getting a balance and being sensitive to the small acts of kindness, building friendship with, bridging cultural and language differences, and … knowing when to respect the need for privacy.A possible change of Mass time to our Sunday morning Mass at St. Joseph’s was discussed. Is 11.00am too late? Children’s Liturgy: we are delighted with how it’s developing again. Thanks to our volunteers. We had a good turnout for our Baptism Programme on Monday evening. Thanks again to our Baptism Team.